SELECT LIST OF COURSES TAUGHT

Critical Philosophy of RaceThis course brings together established and scholars to explore new dimensions in the critical philosophy of race. We will cover material that represents various philosophical traditions (including Continental, Analytic, American/Pragmatism, Feminism, Philosophy of Race) as well as interdisciplinary approaches to theorizing race and racism. Of particular interest are intersections between race, culture, ethnicity, and nationality (as well as with gender and sexuality) that reach beyond the black/white binary as a focal point. (This course was initially offered in conjunction with a conference with the same topic/title. )

Philosophy and FeminismWe explore diverse feminist philosophies of culture and knowledge, and examine gender's role in accounts of reality, truth, morality, and justice. Reading essays from a broad range of scholars (diverse in discipline, age, class, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, nationality, and perspectives) we will examine some of the convergences that have emerged between philosophy and feminism.

“European" PhilosophyIn this course we explore selected European philosophical writings on race, racism, and colonialism by Jean-Paul Sartre and his interlocutors (such as Simone de Beauvoir, Frantz Fanon, Aimé Césaire, and Richard Wright). Operating in the background of this course will be the ontological construction of Europe and European Philosophy. We will ponder questions like: Who and/or what is Europe and European Philosophy? And, why might we be inclined (or disinclined) to read Richard Wright, Aimé Césaire, and Frantz Fanon as European philosophers (rather than, or in addition to reading them exclusively as “Black” or “Africana” philosophers)? Key themes include: the Gaze, Europeaness, Whiteness, Blackness, Race/Racism, Colonialism, Colonized/Colonizer, Freedom/Oppression, Creation of “the Jew” and “the Negro,” Gender Construction, and Dimensions of the African Diaspora.

Radically Rethinking Democracy, Oppression, and LiberationThis seminar focuses on the problem of inequality (namely race, gender, and class inequality) within social and political philosophical traditions including social contract theory, democratic theory, and Marxism. The objective of the course is to analyze the limits of these theories as they relate to race, class, and gender “difference.” To do this, we will examine writings within the African American philosophical tradition including Allen, Boxill, Gordon, Lawson, McGary, Mills, Outlaw, and West.

Race and Sexuality (previously co-taught with Jose Medina, Ph.D.)This seminar focuses on the intersection between two identity categories: race and sexuality. We will also explore other aspects of the so-called intersectionality of identity, studying the complex relations among identity categories such as class, gender, color, ethnicity, and nationality. The seminar covers the following central topics: the sexualization of race and the racialization of sexuality; queering the Color Line and the Gender Line; and socio-cultural perspectives on race and sexuality. We will read some of the most influential authors in Gender Theory, Queer Theory, Race Theory, Sexuality Studies, and Cultural Studies: Frantz Fanon, Judith Butler, Patricia Hill Collins, Bourdieu, among others.

Colonialism, ‘Orientalism’, and CultureThis course is designed to provide students with a preliminary foundational background on the philosophy/psychology of colonialism, “orientalism,” and culture through key texts by Frantz Fanon, Albert Memmi, and Edward Said. Some of the themes that will be highlighted include: racial formation through colonization, alienation and disalienation of the colonizer and the colonized, the scope of “orientalism,” and resistance.

African American/Africana PhilosophyThis course examines dominant themes in African American and Africana philosophical discourse from pre-Emancipation to Decolonization including Race and “Place” (Nationalism and Assimilation), Gender and Sexuality (emphasizing early Black Feminist Thought), Economics, and Racial Uplift. We also explore Literary Modes of Resistance (the Harlem Renaissance and the Negritude Movement). The class culminates with an emphasis on Resistance Movements (Civil Rights, Black Power, Decolonization).

Race and Sex in Contemporary Hip HopThis reading and writing intensive seminar examines historically constructed images of Black masculinity, femininity, and sexuality in relationship to contemporary images in hip hop culture. In our analysis of hip hop, students are also introduced to phenomenology and existentialist philosophical concepts such as objectification, the gaze, performativity, and authenticity. In addition to readings in hip hop studies, philosophical authors engaged include Sartre, Butler, hooks, Hill-Collins, and others.

Race, Womanhood, and Black TheologyThis reading and writing intensive seminar focuses on the intersecting paradigms of race, gender, and religion in Black scholarship (especially by Alexander Crummell and Anna Julia Cooper) from about 1850-1950. The course introduces students to problems that emerge from race/gender essentialism, the exclusion of gender from race debates, the exclusion of race from the women’s movement, and the relevance of Black Christian Theology to constructions of race and gender. We will also analyze writings by Du Bois, Lorde, Davis, hooks, and Cone, among others.

Introduction to PhilosophyIn this course we examine major themes in ancient, modern, and contemporary philosophy. Rather than limiting our focus to western or Greek philosophy, we will also explore Egyptian and Chinese philosophy. Students will also be introduced to other philosophical voices and readings including feminist philosophy, Africana philosophy, Latin American philosophy, Asian American philosophy, and Indian philosophy. Some of the themes we will explore include questions about cosmologies/cosmogonies (theories about creation), human nature (good versus evil), epistemology (theories of knowledge), identity, and living the best life.

Introduction to African American and Diaspora StudiesThis introductory course examines the foundations of African American culture from ancient African history and through contemporary issues in the African American experience and the larger diaspora. We focus on the following themes: 1) Defining Diaspora, Culture and Civilization in Africa, and the Trans-Saharan Slave Trade; 2) The African Diaspora and the “New World”: Economics and the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade; 3) Cultural Continuity and Cultural Constructions; and 4) Resistance, Rebellion, and Revolt.